British Museum station was closed and a replacement
opened a few hundred yards east at Holborn to provide a direct
interchange with the Piccadilly Line station there. Previously,
passengers would have to make the transfer between the stations
at street level.

#1 = British Museum station #2 = Holborn station

The station building in the late 1970s, near the junction of High Holborn
and New Oxford Street. This was demolished in 1989. A Nationwide Building Society office now stands in its place - move your cursor over the image to see the view in 2009.

Station platform. Most of the disused tube stations have had their platforms removed.

Move your cursor over the image to see a view of Lancaster
Gate station in April 2005, still showing the white tiles common
to the line when it was built. If British Museum station had
remained open, it presumably would have looked similar to this.

Like most of the deep level abandoned tube stations,
British Museum was used as an air raid shelter during the Second
World War.

For another far more interesting poster from the same
station, click
here.

The eastbound platform with the former passenger exit
bricked off. The descent to the replacement station at Holborn is (just) visible
along the running tunnel.

The new platforms at Holborn were the scene of a collision
between two Central Line trains on 9th July 1980 (one ran into
the back of the other). No further information about it at present
but a few photos of the surrounding area on the day of the crash are here.

British Museum's station building has gone but the former Chancery Lane station building, showing the distinctive original Central Line architecture, survives. The station lifts were replaced by escalators in 1934 and a new sub-surface ticket hall was opened. The original building was redeveloped to provide lift access to the war-time deep level shelter constructed at Chancery Lane (later converted into Kingway telephone exchange).